Organ Credited For Saving Lives When Car Plows Into Hayward Church
HAYWARD (KPIX 5) - Members of a Hayward Church are thankful that no one is injured after a car plowed through the crowded building during a grocery giveaway.
A parishioner at the New Presbyterian Church on Patrick Street accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake Tuesday afternoon, launching her Toyota Camry up a walkway and into the sanctuary, ripping off the churches double doors and launching it into the organ.
Witnesses say that if the car had hit the church just fifteen feet from where it did it would have run into a line of 70 families who had come for free food.
"The organ is the real hero here because if it wasn't for the organ slowing her down, she might've come in and swerved toward us or gone out that wall," said Ralph Morales, who runs the food program. "If you pray to God, thank him for us. And if you believe in luck, buy me a lotto ticket."
Church officials were still trying to figure out the total cost of the damage.
Hayward police gave the driver, who was not injured, a citation.